A Meatless Menu

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

A culinary movement has started in homes across the country where families will have a Meatless Monday dinner each week. There are many reasons – religious, health, ecological, ethical, or economical – to take meat off the menu. Going meatless for a day, a week, a month, or forever can be almost painless, and can even be lots of fun.

During this Lenten season when you and your family may have given up meat entirely, or just on Fridays, or perhaps you are just interested in cooking healthier for your family in general, it’s a great time to start trying some new vegetarian recipes. Your children might even applaud this change!

A lot of kids go through a lifestyle change at some point or another, declaring themselves a vegetarian. I know I did, when I was in my early teens and again in college. Being an animal lover, one day I woke up and decided to give up anything that moos, oinks, or clucks. Your kids might get your family on track to a healthier eating pattern just by trying to live up their ideals.

While the irresistible smell of my dad’s weekend bacon is what always drew me back in, some people make this choice in childhood or young adulthood and stick with it the rest of their lives. Even now I enjoy cooking vegetarian style meals pretty frequently, so I am fully on board with trying out this meatless Monday thing.

Eliminating meat doesn’t have to mean deprivation. Sometimes when your choices are more limited, you are gently encouraged to be more creative, with some great results. There is a whole world of terrific protein sources that are almost always healthier and lower in saturated fat than meat. Beans, eggs, tofu, whole grains like quinoa, oats, and nuts are all great sources of protein. On top of being so good for you, these sources are a lot more economical than meat.

This trend of eating a plant based diet has also trickled over to mainstream restaurants. I was just out to dinner recently and noticed there were three vegetarian choices on the menu. One of those dishes, a Cashew Crusted Tofu dish accompanied by stir-fried vegetables and a white miso broth sounded so appealing that I decided to forgo my usual choice of a meat based option, and I wasn’t disappointed.

You can even sign a Meatless Monday pledge or order a kit online. Or just take a more casual approach and try it on for size. Right here on CDKitchen there are a bevy of recipes for those interested in trying vegetarian or vegan eating one night a week. From hearty pasta dishes to quiche to meatless chili, you can be covered for years of delicious Meatless Mondays.

As we come into the spring growing season, there will be a huge variety of colorful and fresh produce available that you can share with your kids as you embark on a new eating adventure. Veggies, beans, and whole grains can move to the forefront of dinner one night a week, and I bet no one in your family will know what’s missing.

So try going meatless today and you can include some new and exciting dishes that are part of a healthy and balanced diet!

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1 pound extra firm tofu
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sake or white cooking wine
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/4 cup cashews (If using raw toast until lightly brown), finely chopped
• 1/2 cup flour
• salt and Pepper to taste
• vegetable oil or canola oil for frying

***White Miso Sauce***

• 1 cup white miso paste
• 3 tablespoons sake
• 2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 piece (1" size) ginger, peeled and grated